View source for United States midterm election

{{about||the most recent midterm election|2022 United States elections|the next midterm election|2026 United States elections}} 
{{short description|General elections in the United States that are held two years after the quadrennial elections}}{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Politics of the United States}}
[[File:Oklahoma general election ballot for 2018.png|right|thumb|A 2018 Oklahoma general election ballot, listing candidates for state and local offices, as well as those for U.S. Congress]]

[[Midterm election]]s in the [[United States]] are the [[Elections in the United States|general elections]] that are held near the midpoint of a [[President of the United States|president's]] four-year [[term of office]], on [[Election Day (United States)|Election Day]] on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November. Federal offices that are up for election during the midterms include all 435 seats in the [[United States House of Representatives]], and 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the [[United States Senate]].

In addition, 34 of the 50 [[U.S. state]]s elect their [[Governor (United States)|governors]] for four-year terms during midterm elections, while [[Vermont]] and [[New Hampshire]] elect governors to two-year terms in both midterm and presidential elections. Thus, 36 governors are elected during midterm elections. Many states also elect officers to their [[State legislature (United States)|state legislatures]] in midterm years. There are also elections held at the municipal level. On the ballot are many [[mayor]]s, other local public offices, and a wide variety of [[Popular initiative|citizen]] and [[legislatively referred]] initiatives.

[[By-election|Special elections]] are often held in conjunction with regular elections,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the United States Congress|last1=Dewhirst|first1=Robert|last2=Rausesch|first2=John David|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-0816050581|location=New York|pages=138}}</ref> so additional Senators, governors and other local officials may be elected to partial terms.

Midterm elections historically generate lower [[voter turnout]] than presidential elections. While the latter have had turnouts of about 50–60% over the past 60 years, only about 40% of those eligible to vote go to the polls in midterm elections.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/trends_detail.aspx?id=31674 | title=Demand for Democracy | publisher=The Pew Center on the States | access-date=2011-10-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618221944/http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/trends_detail.aspx?id=31674 | archive-date=2010-06-18 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Desilver, D. (2014) [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/24/voter-turnout-always-drops-off-for-midterm-elections-but-why/ Voter turnout always drops off for midterm elections, but why?] Pew Research Center, July 24, 2014.</ref> Historically, midterm elections often see the president's party [[six-year itch|lose seats in Congress]], and also frequently see the president's opposite-party opponents gain control of one or both houses of Congress.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Busch|first1=Andrew|title=Horses in Midstream|url=https://archive.org/details/horsesinmidstrea0000busc|url-access=registration|date=1999|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/horsesinmidstrea0000busc/page/18 18]–21}}</ref>

==Background==
While [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 1: Executive power and term of office|Article II, Section 1, Clause 1]] of the [[United States Constitution]] sets the [[President of the United States|U.S. president]]'s term of office to four years, [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Clause 1: Composition and election of Members|Article I, Section 2, Clause 1]] sets a two-year term for congressmembers elected to the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Clause 1: Composition and election of senators|Article I, Section 3, Clause 1]] then sets a six-year term for those elected to the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]], with [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Clause 2: Classification of senators; Vacancies|Clause 2]] dividing the chamber into [[Classes of United States senators|three "classes"]] so that approximately one-third of those seats are up for election every two years.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Waxman|first1=Olivia|title=Why Do Midterm Elections Even Exist? Here's Why the Framers Scheduled Things This Way|url=https://time.com/5443162/why-midterm-elections-exist-history/|website=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date= November 5, 2018|access-date=October 15, 2022}}</ref>

The elections for many state and local government offices are held during the midterms so they are not overshadowed or influenced by the presidential election.{{cn|date=October 2022}} Still, a number of state and local governments instead prefer to avoid presidential and midterm years altogether and schedule their local races during odd-numbered "[[Off-year election|off-years]]".<ref>{{cite news | title=Why These 5 States Hold Odd-Year Elections, Bucking The Trend | url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/767959274/why-these-5-states-hold-odd-year-elections-bucking-the-trend | work=NPR | date=November 4, 2019}}</ref>

==Historical record of midterm==

{{See also|United States presidential election#Presidential coattails}}
Midterm elections are regarded as a referendum on the sitting president's and/or [[incumbent]] party's performance.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/07/AR2006110701697.html | title=A Voter Rebuke For Bush, the War And the Right | newspaper=[[Washington Post]] | date=2006-11-08 | quote=Bush and senior adviser Karl Rove tried to replicate that strategy this fall, hoping to keep the election from becoming a referendum on the president's leadership. | first1=Peter | last1=Baker | first2=Jim | last2=VandeHei | access-date=2010-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/04/impeachment/ | title=Election '98 Lewinsky factor never materialized| publisher=[[CNN]] | date=1998-11-04 | quote=Americans shunned the opportunity to turn Tuesday's midterm elections into a referendum on President Bill Clinton's behavior, dashing Republican hopes of gaining seats in the House and Senate.}}</ref>

The party of the incumbent president tends to lose ground during midterm elections:<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Opposition Presidency: Leadership and the Constraints of History|last=Crockett|first=David|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|year=2002|isbn=1585441570|location=College Station|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oppositionpresid00davi/page/228 228]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oppositionpresid00davi/page/228}}</ref> since World War II, the president's party has lost an average of 26 seats in the House, and an average of four seats in the Senate.

Moreover, since direct public midterm elections were introduced, in only eight of those (under presidents [[Woodrow Wilson]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Richard Nixon]], [[Bill Clinton]],  [[George W. Bush]], [[Donald Trump]], and [[Joe Biden]]) has the president's party gained seats in the House or the Senate, and of those only two (1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 2002, George  W. Bush) have seen the president's party gain seats in ''both'' houses.

The losses suffered during a president's second midterm tend to be more pronounced than during their first midterm,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wallis.rochester.edu/assets/pdf/conference11/TheoryMidterm.pdf|title=Explaining Midterm Election Outcomes: A New Theory and an Overview of Existing Explanations}}</ref> in what is described as a "[[six-year itch]]".

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%; border-collapse: collapse; text-align:center;"

|-
! rowspan=2 | Year
! rowspan=2 | Sitting president
! rowspan=2 | President's party
! colspan=3 | Net gain/loss of president's party{{efn|Party shading shows which party controls chamber after that election.}}

|-
! House seats
! Senate seats
|-
| [[1790 United States elections|1790]]
| rowspan=2 | [[George Washington]]
| rowspan=2 | None{{efn|Gain/loss numbers are for the Pro-Administration faction (1790) and [[Federalist Party]] (1794).}}
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | [[1790 and 1791 United States House of Representatives elections|+3: (37 ► 40)]]
| {{Party shading/Pro-Administration}} | [[1790 and 1791 United States Senate elections|0: (18 ► 18)]]

|-
| [[1794 United States elections|1794]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1794 and 1795 United States House of Representatives elections|-4: (51 ► 47)]]
| {{Party shading/Federalist}} | [[1794 and 1795 United States Senate elections|+3: (16 ► 19)]]

|-
| [[1798 United States elections|1798]]
| [[John Adams]]
| {{Party shading/Federalist}} | Federalist
| {{Party shading/Federalist}} | [[1798 and 1799 United States House of Representatives elections|+3: (57 ► 60)]]
| {{Party shading/Federalist}} | [[1798 and 1799 United States Senate elections|0: (22 ► 22)]]

|-
| [[1802 United States elections|1802]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Thomas Jefferson]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | Democratic-Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1802 and 1803 United States House of Representatives elections|+35: (68 ► 103)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1802 and 1803 United States Senate elections|+5: (17 ► 22)]]

|-
| [[1806 United States elections|1806]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1806 and 1807 United States House of Representatives elections|+2: (114 ► 116)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1806 and 1807 United States Senate elections|+1: (27 ► 28)]]

|-
| [[1810 United States elections|1810]]
| rowspan=2 | [[James Madison]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | Democratic-Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1810 and 1811 United States House of Representatives elections|+13: (94 ► 107)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1810 and 1811 United States Senate elections|0: (26 ► 26)]]

|-
| [[1814 United States elections|1814]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1814 and 1815 United States House of Representatives elections|+5: (114 ► 119)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1814 and 1815 United States Senate elections|-3: (26 ► 22)]]

|-
| [[1818 United States elections|1818]]
| rowspan=2 | [[James Monroe]]
| rowspan = 2 {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | Democratic-Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1818 and 1819 United States House of Representatives elections|+13: (145 ► 158)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1818 and 1819 United States Senate elections|+2: (28 ► 30)]]

|-
| [[1822 United States elections|1822]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1822 and 1823 United States House of Representatives elections|+34: (155 ► 189)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | [[1822 and 1823 United States Senate elections|0: (44 ► 44)]]

|-
| [[1826 United States elections|1826]]
| [[John Quincy Adams]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic-Republican}} | Democratic-Republican{{efn|Gain/loss numbers are for the [[National Republican Party|anti-Jacksonian faction]].}}
| {{Party shading/Pro-Jacksonian}} | [[1826 and 1827 United States House of Representatives elections|-9: (109 ► 100)]]
| {{Party shading/Pro-Jacksonian}} | [[1826 and 1827 United States Senate elections|-2: (21 ► 19)]]

|-
| [[1830 United States elections|1830]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Andrew Jackson]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic{{efn|Gain/loss numbers are for the [[Jacksonian democracy|pro-Jacksonian faction]].}}
| {{Party shading/Pro-Jacksonian}} | [[1830 United States House of Representatives elections|-10: (136 ► 126)]]
| {{Party shading/Pro-Jacksonian}} | [[1830 and 1831 United States Senate elections|+1: (25 ► 26)]]

|-
| [[1834 United States elections|1834]]
| {{Party shading/Pro-Jacksonian}} | [[1834 and 1835 United States House of Representatives elections|0: (143 ► 143)]]
| {{Party shading/Anti-Jacksonian}} | [[1834 and 1835 United States Senate elections|+1: (21 ► 22)]]

|-
| [[1838 United States elections|1838]]
| [[Martin Van Buren]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1838 and 1839 United States House of Representatives elections|-3: (128 ► 125)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1838 and 1839 United States Senate elections|-7: (35 ► 28)]]

|-
| [[1842 United States elections|1842]]
| [[John Tyler]]
| None{{efn|Tyler was elected on the Whig ticket in 1840 but expelled from the party in 1841. Gain/loss numbers are for the Whig Party.}}
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1842 United States House of Representatives elections|-69: (142 ► 73)]]
| {{Party shading/Whig}} | [[1842 and 1843 United States Senate elections|-3: (30 ► 27)]]

|-
| [[1846 United States elections|1846]]
| [[James K. Polk]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Whig}} | [[1846 United States House of Representatives elections|-30: (142 ► 112)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1846 and 1847 United States Senate elections|+2: (33 ► 35)]]

|-
| [[1850 United States elections|1850]]
| [[Millard Fillmore]]
| {{Party shading/Whig}} | Whig
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1850 United States House of Representatives elections|-22: (108 ► 86)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1850 and 1851 United States Senate elections|-3: (36 ► 33)]]

|-
| [[1854 United States elections|1854]]
| [[Franklin Pierce]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Opposition}} | [[1854 United States House of Representatives elections|-75: (158 ► 83)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1854 and 1855 United States Senate elections|-3: (36 ► 33)]]

|-
| [[1858 United States elections|1858]]
| [[James Buchanan]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1858 and 1859 United States House of Representatives elections|-35: (133 ► 98)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1858 and 1859 United States Senate elections|-4: (32 ► 38)]]

|-
| [[1862 United States elections|1862]]
| [[Abraham Lincoln]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1862 and 1863 United States House of Representatives elections|-23: (108 ► 85)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1862 and 1863 United States Senate elections|+1: (31 ► 32)]]

|-
| [[1866 United States elections|1866]]
| [[Andrew Johnson]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1866 and 1867 United States House of Representatives elections|+9: (38 ► 47)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1866 and 1867 United States Senate elections|0: (10 ► 10)]]

|-
| [[1870 United States elections|1870]]
| rowspan = 2 | [[Ulysses S. Grant]]
| rowspan = 2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1870 and 1871 United States House of Representatives elections|-32: (171 ► 139)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1870 and 1871 United States Senate elections|-5: (63 ► 58)]]

|-
| [[1874 United States elections|1874]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1874 and 1875 United States House of Representatives elections|-93: (199 ► 106)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1874 and 1875 United States Senate elections|-10: (52 ► 42)]]

|-
| [[1878 United States elections|1878]]
| [[Rutherford B. Hayes]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1878 and 1879 United States House of Representatives elections|-4: (136 ► 132)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1878 and 1879 United States Senate elections|-7: (38 ► 31)]]

|-
| [[1882 United States elections|1882]]
| [[Chester A. Arthur]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1882 United States House of Representatives elections|-29: (151 ► 118)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1882 and 1883 United States Senate elections|0: (37 ► 37)]]

|-
| [[1886 United States elections|1886]]
| [[Grover Cleveland]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1886 United States House of Representatives elections|-16: (183 ► 167)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1886 and 1887 United States Senate elections|+2: (34 ► 36)]]

|-
| [[1890 United States elections|1890]]
| [[Benjamin Harrison]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1890 United States House of Representatives elections|-93: (179 ► 86)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1890 and 1891 United States Senate elections|-4: (47 ► 43)]]

|-
| [[1894 United States elections|1894]]
| [[Grover Cleveland]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1894 United States House of Representatives elections|-127: (220 ► 93)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1894 and 1895 United States Senate elections|-4: (44 ► 40)]]

|-
| [[1898 United States elections|1898]]
| [[William McKinley]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1898 United States House of Representatives elections|-21: (205 ► 189)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1898 and 1899 United States Senate elections|+6: (44 ► 50)]]

|-
| [[1902 United States elections|1902]]
| rowspan = 2 | [[Theodore Roosevelt]]
| rowspan = 2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1902 United States House of Representatives elections|+9: (201 ► 210)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1902 and 1903 United States Senate elections|0: (55 ► 55)]]

|-
| [[1906 United States elections|1906]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1906 United States House of Representatives elections|-27: (251 ► 224)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1906 and 1907 United States Senate elections|+2: (58 ► 60)]]

|-
| [[1910 United States elections|1910]]
| [[William Howard Taft]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1910 United States House of Representatives elections|-56: (219 ► 163)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1910 and 1911 United States Senate elections|-9: (59 ► 50)]]

|-
| [[1914 United States elections|1914]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Woodrow Wilson]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1914 United States House of Representatives elections|-61: (291 ► 230)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1914 United States Senate elections|+3: (50 ► 53)]]

|-
| [[1918 United States elections|1918]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1918 United States House of Representatives elections|-22: (214 ► 192)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1918 United States Senate elections|-4: (52 ► 48)]]

|-
| [[1922 United States elections|1922]]
| [[Warren G. Harding]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}}  | [[1922 United States House of Representatives elections|-77: (302 ► 225)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}}  | [[1922 United States Senate elections|-7: (60 ► 53)]]

|-
| [[1926 United States elections|1926]]
| [[Calvin Coolidge]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}}  | [[1926 United States House of Representatives elections|-9: (247 ► 238)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}}  | [[1926 United States Senate elections|-6: (56 ► 50)]]

|-
| [[1930 United States elections|1930]]
| [[Herbert Hoover]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1930 United States House of Representatives elections|-52: (270 ► 218)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}}  | [[1930 United States Senate elections|-6: (56 ► 50)]]

|-
| [[1934 United States elections|1934]]
| rowspan=3 | [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
| rowspan=3 {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1934 United States House of Representatives elections|+9: (313 ► 322)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1934 United States Senate elections|+9: (60 ► 69)]]

|-
| [[1938 United States elections|1938]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1938 United States House of Representatives elections|-72: (334 ► 262)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1938 United States Senate elections|-7: (75 ► 68)]]

|-
| [[1942 United States elections|1942]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1942 United States House of Representatives elections|-45: (267 ► 222)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1942 United States Senate elections|-8: (65 ► 57)]]

|-
| [[1946 United States elections|1946]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Harry S. Truman]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1946 United States House of Representatives elections|-54: (242 ► 188)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1946 United States Senate elections|-10: (56 ► 46)]]

|-
| [[1950 United States elections|1950]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1950 United States House of Representatives elections|-28: (263 ► 235)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1950 United States Senate elections|-5: (54 ► 49)]]

|-
| [[1954 United States elections|1954]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1954 United States House of Representatives elections|-18: (221 ► 203)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1954 United States Senate elections|-2: (49 ► 47)]]

|-
| [[1958 United States elections|1958]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1958 United States House of Representatives elections|-48: (201 ► 153)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1958 United States Senate elections|-12: (47 ► 35)]]

|-
| [[1962 United States elections|1962]]
| [[John F. Kennedy]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1962 United States House of Representatives elections|-4: (262 ► 258)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1962 United States Senate elections|+4: (64 ► 68)]]

|-
| [[1966 United States elections|1966]]
| [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1966 United States House of Representatives elections|-47: (295 ► 248)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1966 United States Senate elections|-3: (67 ► 64)]]

|-
| [[1970 United States elections|1970]]
| [[Richard Nixon]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1970 United States House of Representatives elections|-12: (192 ► 180)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1970 United States Senate elections|+2: (43 ► 45)]]

|-
| [[1974 United States elections|1974]]
| [[Gerald Ford]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1974 United States House of Representatives elections|-48: (192 ► 144)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1974 United States Senate elections|-4: (42 ► 38)]]

|-
| [[1978 United States elections|1978]]
| [[Jimmy Carter]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1978 United States House of Representatives elections|-15: (292 ► 277)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1978 United States Senate elections|-2: (61 ► 59)]]

|-
| [[1982 United States elections|1982]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Ronald Reagan]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1982 United States House of Representatives elections|-26: (192 ► 166)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1982 United States Senate elections|0: (54 ► 54)]]

|-
| [[1986 United States elections|1986]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1986 United States House of Representatives elections|-5: (182 ► 177)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1986 United States Senate elections|-8: (53 ► 45)]]

|-
| [[1990 United States elections|1990]]
| [[George H. W. Bush]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1990 United States House of Representatives elections|-8: (175 ► 167)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[1990 United States Senate elections|-1: (45 ► 44)]]

|-
| [[1994 United States elections|1994]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Bill Clinton]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1994 United States House of Representatives elections|-54: (258 ► 204)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1994 United States Senate elections|-9: (56 ► 47)]]

|-
| [[1998 United States elections|1998]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1998 United States House of Representatives elections|+4: (207 ► 211)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[1998 United States Senate elections|0: (45 ► 45)]]

|-
| [[2002 United States elections|2002]]
| rowspan=2 | [[George W. Bush]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[2002 United States House of Representatives elections|+8: (221 ► 229)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[2002 United States Senate elections|+2: (49 ► 51)]]

|-
| [[2006 United States elections|2006]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[2006 United States House of Representatives elections|-32: (231 ► 199)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[2006 United States Senate elections|-6: (55 ► 49)]]

|-
| [[2010 United States elections|2010]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Barack Obama]]
| rowspan=2 {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[2010 United States House of Representatives elections|-63: (256 ► 193)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[2010 United States Senate elections|-6: (59 ► 53)]]

|-
| [[2014 United States elections|2014]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[2014 United States House of Representatives elections|-13: (201 ► 188)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[2014 United States Senate elections|-9: (55 ► 46)]]

|-
| [[2018 United States elections|2018]]
| [[Donald Trump]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[2018 United States House of Representatives elections|-41: (241 ► 200)]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | [[2018 United States Senate elections|+2: (51 ► 53)]]
|-
| [[2022 United States elections|2022]]
| [[Joe Biden]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic
| {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2022 United States House of Representatives elections|-9: (222 ► 213)]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}} | [[2022 United States Senate elections|+1: (50 ► 51)]]

|-
| [[2026 United States elections|2026]]
| [[Donald Trump]]
| {{Party shading/Republican}} | Republican
| [[2026 United States House of Representatives elections|TBD]]
| [[2026 United States Senate elections|TBD]]
|}

==Comparison with other U.S. general elections==
{{US elections}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4734318.stm | title=Q&A: US mid-term elections | publisher=[[BBC News]] | date=8 November 2006 | access-date=26 May 2010}}

{{United States elections}}

[[Category:Elections in the United States]]
[[Category:1790 establishments in the United States]]